How to Close A Year

We are technically in December for the last day and the theme this month has been Hebrew word translation. I cannot decide on a word!

So here are a couple:

Good morning- Boker tov

Good evening - Erev tov

Thank you - Toda

Please/ your welcome - Bevakasha

Yes - Ken

No - Lo

Often at the close of the year we get reflective on what we did or did not accomplish in the past year. This mental list we carry around with us is totally at the whims of us. Yet when it does not happen we tend to get perturbed and start blaming ourselves and others including God in there.

“If my boss would have ….”

“If my wife would have ….”

“If only I would have…”

“God if you would….”

We, you and I get to make decisions about how we live, where we live, and yes it can have include others. But ultimately you make the final decision for your choices.

I am not talking about children or childhood here as a child does not get much of a say. No, I am talking adult responsibility stuff.

The Bible is very clear on how to live, put God first. For me I think I tend to do my God reading time in the morning and then get on with my day. God time accomplished - tick!

When the day goes sideways I can lash out at God, “where are you?” And the blame game continues, where we blame everyone and even things for our predicaments.

Maybe I have a couple assumptions wrong.

10-30 minutes of God time, is not what God was asking for. He actually wanted my 24 hours, my every minute of every day.

I was going somewhere and hate winter driving, you know all that snow and ice, and I live in the north so we have a lot. I distinctly heard God say “He would drive.” I took Him up on the offer.

As I climbed behind the wheel I said , “so how does this work?”

He said, “ you know how I am with you when you are doing ministry? Or when you are talking to me doing the dishes, or when you are grocery shopping… it’s the same. I am with you and able to work through you in all those places, including driving. Besides I made this stuff and I know how to drive in it (snow).”

Hmmmm it was a God lesson moment. I knew what He was saying but I was not practicing it. Instead I wandered off into Jane thinking and doing instead of keeping God present in my day. I had put Him into the God box I designed for Him in my head. Usually I only needed to peek in when the day was not going so well and I needed something.

That is not the life God originally intended for us to have.

We can beat ourselves up that we have not been doing this correctly or we can understand that God already knows this. That’s why I get a reminder every so often - those sideways days of what it looks like wrong.

I had a sideways day very recently. My sons truck broke coming up my driveway, the driveway has a significant grade. He slid back and buried the rear tires into a snow bank. He needed help so he got the tractor and went to try to pull it. I had to help- it was a 2 person job. He had basically started cleaning out snow. Company had just arrived shortly before so I had to say I might be a while. Unbeknownst to my son, there was a ditch on the backside of the snow pile he was moving. The front of the tractor fell into it. Well now we had a situation. My company left and we proceeded to get another truck to try to pull the others out. Unfortunately we did not have a lot of room. Between huge snow banks and ditches it was rather tight maneuvering. The stuck truck was blocking the road so we let the neighbours know.

We ended up calling BCAA for a tow. The wait was 180 minutes. Trying to decide where we were moving the stuck truck- we opted for a flat area around the corner when the tow truck came. The day had been unusually warm and the steep driveway got icier and icier because of it. No one was pulling anything up that driveway. It made trying to pull very difficult because traction was not easy on ice.

We decided to plow out the place we were putting the truck with a quad and plow. A quick couple passes and wham, another ditch which you can’t see for all the snow we have and the quad sunk.

I stood and cried, because you know that helps. At that moment BCAA called with what she said was “unfortunate news”, no help was coming til tomorrow. I cried harder.

As I stood there my phone rang. One of my neighbours who was not supposed to be home called. Well I could barely talk for crying and simply said we were stuck and needed some help.

He showed up promptly with a skidsteer! God blessed us with a call, a neighbor who was supposed to be out at work, a machine that could fit in our tight spots! It took a while but we got all machines out. My son tried his truck which had stopped moving and steering when an axle snapped. You know it drove, and he was able to drive it somehow to the flat area and park it safely out of the way,

Instead of blaming God, I need to be pressing in, trying to hear Him more, seeking His wisdom instead of inserting mine. But when faced with the “sudden” emergencies I relied on our ability to get unstuck. It did not go well. It took the larger mess for me to peek in the God box and then take the time to pray and ask for prayer from friends. Plus adding thanks that the axle had not snapped on the highway he had just been on.

The process that one step at a time, one breath at a time, that God is meeting me there. It’s not a run this life of ours, it is a walk through unseen places. Some places are uphill and tougher than others. Some places are downhills and steep where sure footedness is key. Some places we simply get stuck! Then there are plateaus the area of easy walking, I have come to appreciate those this year. God is with me in each area, each step, each breath encouraging me to continue and to press in closer.

So as we look and wonder what this next chapter will be like in 2026, we can guess, we can aim but we can enter confidently knowing that God will be there at each step of the way.

I